What It's Like to Spray Tan (Mostly) Naked Famous People for a Living

"I spray tanned Seth McFarland in a bathtub. I also spray-tanned a corpse once."

Is there a right way to get ahead?! Welcome to Raise Your Game—our week of examining success at work, whether you’re Patrick Bateman, an on-the-job stoner, or just a guy who wants to see a shit-ton of zeros on his paycheck.

Ah, the daily grind. The monotony of clocking in and out so that we can, you know, pay for stuff. But doesn’t it feel like, on the days you most want to quit the very thing that pays your rent (and keeps the Twix bars stocked in your stress drawer), you hear about that guy? The one who outlines his “typical day on the job,” and you think, “Someone gets paid for that? Nah, man. That can’t be a thing.” Well, here's a thing: a guy whose job is to spray tan attractive famous people.

Dante Fitzpatrick is a 34-year-old Director of Airbrush Design for Beach Bum Tanning & Airbrush Salon. (When American Idol was filming in the city and Paula Abdul told her assistant to find the “best airbrush artist in Manhattan,” Fitzpatrick’s name came up.) Plenty of Susie Spray-tanners make a living sun-spritzing high schoolers before prom, or co-eds who insisted on a white bikini for this spring break’s cruise trip. But how does one become a Celebrity Airbrush Artist? And why is Chris Pratt so obsessed with him?

Any favorite clients?Isla Fisher is the absolute best to spray. Not only is she beautiful, she’s the funniest person. It takes me 40 minutes to spray her because she’s got me laughing so hard.

How long does a spray tan usually take?
For regular clients, it usually takes about 20 to 25 minutes. For celebrities, it’s about an hour. I have to put in a lot more work now because of high-definition cameras.

Lady Gaga was the first famous person I ever sprayed, and it took me four hours. It was for the Grammys and she wore that white outfit, and I had to go after everyone else. The wig dyer and the wig placer got in a fight and there were literally wigs flying everywhere. My assistant and I were just looking at each other back and forth, waiting for the wigs to settle so we could finish.

And how did you get into this line of work?
Back in 2006, when spray tanning was in the “dark ages,” I was doing make-up for a movie in Columbia, South America. When I got back, James Oliver, owner/CEO Beach Bum Tanning, had heard of me through some other make-up clients. He was like, “I’ve got this project. We have a huge chain of tanning salons and we want to start doing sunless tanning, airbrush tanning specifically. I want you to get this started for our company. Research it. Test it out.”

Cheekbones, cleavage, and butts are my big thing. I do contouring old school; a lot of people use contouring guns now, but I actually still use a small, detailing paint brush.

How did you “research” spray tanning?
Basically, it was six months of me spray tanning all of my friends. There were people looking crazy all over the city. Some of my friends will hate me forever.

I read somewhere that you created this crazy solution that can create, like, 150 different colors.
The higher quality ingredients, the more colors you can get. We’ve gotten away from air brushing people to make them look really dark. Now, what’s trending is giving people a natural, healthy-looking glow—making it as realistic as possible. People don’t want an actual tan; they want an even skin tone.

Is there a secret ingredient?
We used to use crushed walnuts, but so many people have nut allergies. Now we use a cocoa bean extract.

Have you had to talk clients out of horrible choices?
Yes. It’s constant. And sometimes it’s more than color. A lot of people are like, “I want my abs to look shredded!” “I want my cleavage to be out of this world!” And I’m like, “Well, sometimes less is more. Let’s make this look realistic.”

You seem to have an intricate system to bring out muscle tone and really accentuate your clients, err, assets.
Cheekbones, cleavage, and butts are my big thing. I do contouring old school; a lot of people use contouring guns now, but I actually still use a small, detailing paint brush. It’s a lot of practice. I looked at a lot of anatomy books. I studied magazines and photo shoots from all different eras. And, like all gay men, I first learned how to do make-up from my mother.

Everybody cares so much about what these people look like, and you’re partly responsible for that. Is that a lot of pressure?
Yeah. No matter who you’re spraying—you could be spraying the most famous person in the world –the one thing that everyone has in common is: when the clothes come off, it’s maximum vulnerability. People are self-conscious about their bodies, especially famous people.

I spray tanned Seth McFarland in a bathtub. I also spray-tanned a corpse once.

Are they always completely naked?
Most women don’t want tan lines.

So how do you get them to chill out?
I approach everyone in the same way, with the three Hs—humility, honesty, and humor. That’s the best way to get people to forget that they’re completely naked. Usually, I have people distracted so quickly that they’re telling me about their boyfriends and their girlfriends and their fights with their mom. They’ve forgotten that they’re naked in front of a total stranger, not to mention, that I’m a man. That’s a big barrier. Sometimes I have to go over the top to make women feel comfortable. Sometimes I have to super gay it up.

What’s the most uncomfortable thing you’ve done to make a client feel comfortable?
Paula Abdul came to New York for an interview during American Idol and was very nervous about a guy spraying her. When I got to the hotel, they were like, “Can you just talk to Paula?” I was talking to her and then I did the dance from “Forever Your Girl.” She was dying, and it was golden after that. I just had to do that dance. I actually did a pretty good job of it.

Weirdest thing you've done?
We’ll airbrush CEOs in their offices. We’ll shut the door and pop up a tent and be in and out in 25 minutes. I spray tanned Seth McFarland in a bathtub. I also spray-tanned a corpse once. She was a long-time client and her family wanted her represented the way she was when she passed…

Wow.
It was kind of awful, but also actually pretty cool. Oh, and there’s not a beer commercial that takes place on a beach that I have not airbrushed for.

So, you’ve painted cleavage on Vogue and beer models. What about those Victoria Secret angels?
My arch nemesis Jimmy Coco on the west coast does VS models. He’s good. He’s the best on the west. I’m the beast on the east. We’re actually really good friends. We love to meet for drinks and gossip on all the celebs. I’m always asking about Kim Kardashian and he’s like, “Ugh. You know I can’t talk about Kim. But let me tell you who I just sprayed…” I feel like a celebrity myself sometimes.

Well, Chris Pratt did give you a shout out during an acceptance speech…
Chris Pratt is my favorite male client. He loves a good spray tan. He always talks about how thirty pounds of his muscle is just pure airbrush. The first time I sprayed Chris Pratt he wore these silver briefs that said “Chris” on the butt. He waited for me to say something the entire time. But it was the first time I’d airbrushed him, and sometimes you don’t want to joke around so much if you don’t know the person. But at the end he was like, “Dude, you never said anything about my undies.” I was like, “I didn’t know…” And he was like, “Dude, I wore those for you!” I was like, “Well, thanks, Chris.”